T206 Wagner, Memory Lane style

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by cmcclelland

This is just my two cents worth, but I think it is very funny how critical the hobby has become about distinguishing between what the numerical grade is for a low end card.

My opinion is that a card that is graded a "1" or "Poor" grade should be an extremely "poor" looking card that almost does not look like a card any more. To me, this means things like pieces of the card that are missing, holes in the card, very bad marks or writing on the card, extreme paper loss, etc. To me, this was always the standard back in the day.

These days, all it takes is some small, easy to miss flaw to potentially throw a card into the "1" category. I have always viewed the "2" or "Good" category as the cards that are pretty beat up but not having the horrible flaws that make you say it's one of those cards that makes you kind of say this is just a poor card that couldn't get much worse.

So, I think this PSA Wagner is very much worthy of the "2" grade based on the way I have always graded cards going back to the "olden days" before professional grading. I have always thought a heavily creased card with severely rounded corners was a "2" or a "Good" card. A "poor" or "1" card had to either be so heavily creased to render the image so poor that you couldn't make out the image, or there had to be some other major flaw such as a piece of the card missing or a hole, etc.

Again, just my two cents, but I think the hobby has become waaaaay too critical on the low end of the grading spectrum.

I really enjoyed reading this post, although I disagree with you. In the "olden days" we did not have grading companies. Yes, an old guy might have called this 'good', but you would have looked at it and paid what you thought it was worth (unless buying through mail with no picture, in which case you might have been able to get a refund).

The grading companies job was to give a grade that consistently represented the issues (or non-issues) with the card. PSA has not done that with this card - almost every T206 that they grade in this condition will get a lower grade. And as far as refunds, many sellers fall back on: "no refunds for professionally graded cards."

If a card gets a 2 when it deserves a 1, the price is affected, like it or not. If you have 4-5 bidders and even ONE of them is willing to pay for that 2, then the card brings more than it would if it were raw. Yes, the card has good eye appeal, especially for a 1 - 1.5, but not for a 2.

[drc]

I thing changing grading systems for certain cards, especially certain cards involving big money and well healed buyers and sellers, is bad for the grading company. Somewhere down the road some pipsqueak on eBay or some chat board is going to say, "Yeah, well know PSA does gives grading favors for certain companies and people in the hobby," and people are going to say, or at least think to themselves, "This poster's an obnoxious twit, but he has a valid point."

Doing stuff like this just gives credence to and fuels the conspiracy theories that exist in any hobby.

My personal opinion is that raising grade scales for certain cards is really, really bad, for many reasons. In my opinion it defies the very reasons and foundations for having a standard grading system, it's unethical, it looks bad and is getting close to sleazy.

[vintagecpa]

What are the general guidelines for a T206 card to receive a (MC) qualifier? Not that they would ever stick such a qualifier on a T206 Wagner.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by drc

....Somewhere down the road some pipsqueak on eBay or some chat board...

'Pipsqueak'?!? that one's so old I had to look it up.

Synonyms: cipher, dwarf, half-pint, insect, insignificancy, lightweight, morsel, nonentity, nothing, nullity, number, pip-squeak, pygmy (also pigmy), shrimp, snippersnapper, twerp, whippersnapper, zero, zilch

[barrysloate]

Snippersnapper??? I learned a new word today.

[Peter_Spaeth]

GOOD 2: Good
A PSA Good 2 card's corners show accelerated rounding and surface wear is starting to become obvious. A good card may have scratching, scuffing, light staining, or chipping of enamel on obverse. There may be several creases. Original gloss may be completely absent. Card may show considerable discoloration. Centering must be 90/10 or better on the front and back.